Joshua 8:1-18

Context

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic!¹ Take the whole army with you and march against Ai!² See, I am handing over to you³ the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 8:2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho⁴ and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”

8:3 Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai.⁵ Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. 8:4 He told⁶ them, “Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready! 8:5 I and all the troops⁷ who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. 8:6 They will attack⁸ us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them. 8:7 Then you rise up from your hiding place⁹ and seize¹⁰ the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8:8 When you capture the city, set it¹¹ on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.”¹² 8:9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place¹³ west of Ai, between Bethel¹⁴ and Ai.¹⁵ Joshua spent that night with the army.¹⁶

8:10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered¹⁷ the army,¹⁸ and he and the leaders¹⁹ of Israel marched²⁰ at the head of it²¹ to Ai. 8:11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.²² They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.²³ 8:12 He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel²⁴ and Ai. 8:13 The army was in position – the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into²⁵ the middle of the valley.

8:14 When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah.²⁶ But he did not realize²⁷ men were hiding behind the city.²⁸ 8:15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert. 8:16 All the reinforcements²⁹ in Ai³⁰ were ordered³¹ to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 8:17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;³² they all went out after Israel.³³ They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

8:18 The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city³⁴ over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.

[8:1] ¹tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

[8:1] ²tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

[8:1] ³tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

[8:2] ⁴map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[8:3] ⁵tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.”

[8:4] ⁶tn Or “commanded, ordered.”

[8:5] ⁷tn Heb “the people.”

[8:6] ⁸tn Heb “come out after.”

[8:7] ⁹tn Heb “from the ambush.”

[8:7] ¹⁰tn Heb “take possession of.”

[8:8] ¹¹tn Heb “the city.”

[8:8] ¹²tn Heb “I have commanded you.”

[8:9] ¹³tn Or “the place of ambush.”

[8:9] ¹⁴map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[8:9] ¹⁵tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”

[8:9] ¹⁶tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”

[8:10] ¹⁷tn Or “summoned, mustered.”

[8:10] ¹⁸tn Heb “the people.”

[8:10] ¹⁹tn Or “elders.”

[8:10] ²⁰tn Heb “went up.”

[8:10] ²¹tn Heb “them” (referring to “the people” in the previous clause, which requires a plural pronoun). Since the translation used “army” in the previous clause, a singular pronoun (“it”) is required in English.

[8:11] ²²tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.”

[8:11] ²³tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.”

[8:12] ²⁴map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[8:13] ²⁵tn Some Hebrew mss read, “spent the night in.”

[8:14] ²⁶tn Heb “When the king of Ai saw, the men of Ai hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people at the meeting place before the Arabah.”

[8:14] ²⁷tn Or “know.”

[8:14] ²⁸tn Heb “that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.”

[8:16] ²⁹tn Heb “All the people.”

[8:16] ³⁰tc Some textual witnesses read “the city.”

[8:16] ³¹tn Or “were summoned”; or “were mustered.”

[8:17] ³²tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”

[8:17] ³³tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”

[8:18] ³⁴tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Ai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.